Unilever working with PwC on divestment of premium skincare brands
Fast-moving consumer goods giant Unilever has reportedly contacted PwC to help it slim its personal care portfolio. PwC is understood to be helping Unilever explore options to sell Kate Somerville – while fellow skincare brand REN is also said to be offloaded.
Unilever is a British multinational fast-moving consumer goods company. With the company still adapting to life after determining it would no longer be jointly headquartered in the UK and Netherlands, it announced plans to save €800 million over the next three years, while cutting approximately 7,500 mainly office jobs worldwide. It has also been reconsidering a number of its wide-ranging portfolios.
Earlier in the decade, this saw Unilever agree to sell most of its tea business under the Ekaterra division to investment firm CVC Capital Partners for €4.5 billion. It also sold Elida Beauty to Yellow Wood Partners, a private equity firm in the US, and in early 2024, declared it would also spin off its ice cream unit – which owns brands including Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s.
Now, reports from Sky News suggest that the FMCG firm will also be moving on a number of its skincare brands. Speaking to the UK broadcaster, inside sources said that Unilever had asked accounting and consultancy firm PwC to gauge the interest of potential buyers for Kate Somerville.
Kate Somerville is well-known in Hollywood, and formed part of the company's ‘Prestige’ personal care portfolio. The company has been part of Unilever since a 2015 acquisition – and it is unclear what valuation will place on the brand. However, sources told Sky News that it would likely not be the only brand which would be sold. REN – another skincare company, also bought in 2015 – could also be offloaded, according to insiders.
PwC was also the firm which Unilever turned to in 2021, when it sought to sell parts of its Bertolli brand. The deal saw investor-backed Enrico-Glasbest acquire the European pasta sauces, pesto and mayonnaise activities, and other trade mark rights under the Bertolli licence.
